The invention relates to a continuous casting plant, in particular an arcuate continuous casting plant for steel strands, comprising supporting elements following a through-type mould and including the strand guideways, which elements are arranged within a cooling chamber and are fastened to a supporting structure so as to be adjustable relative to the through-type mould and relative to one another in the direction transversely to the longitudinal axis of the strand guideways.
A continuous casting plant of this type is known from Austrian patent No. 364,980. For the purpose of an aligned adjustment of their rollerways, all the supporting elements are mounted so as to be adjustable either relative to a stationary supporting structure, for instance relative to the base, or at one another, so that the strand guideways are adjustable transversely to their longitudinal axes. Of a particular importance is the precise adjustment of the first supporting element, which is closely below the mould and, in arcuate continuous casting plants comprising a straight mould, is designed as the bending zone, since the strand has a very thin strand skin prone to cracks closely below the mould. An offset between the bending zone and the mould (or its foot rollers) or between the bending zone and the subsequent circularly arcuate guiding arc may lead to a strand breakthrough.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,173 it is known to fasten the bending zone to the stationary supporting structure by interposing shims, so that the bending zone can be precisely adjusted relative to a subsequently arranged supporting element. The aligning adjustment of the supporting elements in the plant, however, causes difficulties, since the elements are inserted within the cooling chamber. Therefore, it is necessary to enter the cooling chamber and to carry out adjustment and reassemblage works within the cooling chamber, which are cumbersome to carry out, in particular if the plant parts are hot. Moreover, it may be necessary to remove parts of the cooling chamber.
A further problem arises in continuous casting plants in which individual supporting elements cannot be displaced transversely to the longitudinal axis of the strand guideway, since they are bound, with regard to their positions, to connection plates available for coolants and/or lubricants. With such plants it would be necessary to offset the supporting elements commonly with their connection plates, which is very cumbersome to carry out, if possible at all.
The invention aims at avoiding these disadvantages and difficulties and has as its object to provide a continuous casting plant in which an aligned adjustment between its supporting elements, or the mould and the supporting elements, may be realized in a simple manner, with little work to carry out and even with the plant in operation, under normal working conditions, wherein the entry of the cooling chamber is avoided and, if desired, one of the supporting elements, for instance the mould, may retain its position, i.e., need not perform adjusting movements transversely to the longitudinal axis of the strand guideway.